The LWF Blog

Fire Safety for Healthcare Premises – High Risk Fire Hazards & Precautions – Part 92

September 9, 2019 12:30 pm

In LWF’s blog series for healthcare professionals, our aim is to give information on best practice of fire safety in hospitals and other healthcare premises. In part 91, we talked about the ongoing maintenance of ventilation systems in healthcare venue main kitchens. In part 92, we will consider what might go into the planning and location of a main kitchen within healthcare premises.

It is important to consider fully the planning of a hospital main kitchen prior to its construction, or in case of a major alteration or upgrading of an existing kitchen. Such kitchens often provide an almost non-stop service and so important considerations such as location, design and operational policies must be taken into account at the early stages of planning – including everything that relates to fire safety.

It should also be borne in mind that while a hospital main kitchen would be classified as high fire risk and high fire load in its main cooking areas, the dining room area would be classified as having low fire risk and low fire load. Certain provisions must be made, however, for the dining area to maintain its low risk/load status. The servery area with call-order bars should form an individual sub-compartment in order to achieve this.

In practice, however, the main kitchen with its supporting services and the dining room along with its supporting services will, in most cases, be positioned close together. For fire safety purposes they must therefore be considered together, as forming the core of the catering department.

First-aid firefighting equipment such as fire extinguishers or fire blankets should be provided throughout the kitchen area, with particular care paid to the selection of appropriate fire safety equipment for the particular hazards encountered in kitchens.

All new kitchen staff must be trained in fire safety and be familiar with where the firefighting equipment is kept and its purpose. A general fire safety education will not be sufficient and particular attention must be paid to what fire safety actions must be taken in case of a fire with specific pieces of kitchen equipment. All staff must receive appropriate training and instruction on the correct way to operate fat fryers safely.

In part 93, LWF will look into the correct use of fat fryers in a healthcare main kitchen and what precautions should be taken during operation. In the meantime, if you have any questions about this blog, or wish to discuss your own project with one of our fire engineers, please contact us.

Lawrence Webster Forrest has been working with their clients for over 25 years to produce innovative and exciting building projects. If you would like further information on how LWF and fire strategies could assist you, please contact Peter Gyere on 0800 410 1130.

While care has been taken to ensure that information contained in LWF’s publications is true and correct at the time of publication, changes in circumstances after the time of publication may impact on the accuracy of this information.